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Squeal Like a Stuffed Pig

Heard on Stephanie Miller this morning, a guest (I think it was a representative from Virginia) said that some group were “squealing like stuffed pigs”. Checked it on Google, and sure enough, lots of instances. I’m pretty sure this is an eggcorn for “squeal like a stuck pig”.

Re: Squeal Like a Stuffed Pig

I agree, an eggcorn. A particularly interesting one, too, in that it contradicts what I have tended to think of as almost necessary for full eggcornhood: namely that the eggcorn make as good sense, or nearly as good sense, as the acorn. “Squeal like a stuck pig” is an exceedingly vivid and dramatic image for me (visual and especially auditory: I live where many have pigs in their yards); “grunt like a stuffed pig” would make a lot more sense.

Last edited by DavidTuggy (2010-02-03 15:13:07)

*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .

Re: Squeal Like a Stuffed Pig

I see the imagery a little differently. To me it seems to convey a bit of irony: that the pig is already sated—stuffed, in fact—but is squealing at the thought of losing it’s excesses. The political context, of course, is of a group being asked to give up their privileged status or entitlements. The reshaping makes complete sense because the context is a perennial source for political complaint—and it has now begotten it’s own self-consistent metaphor: “stuffed” serves a purpose that “stuck” simply could not.

Re: Squeal Like a Stuffed Pig

Another kind of imagery that came to mind just now, rethinking things: stuffed animals (the toy kind, not the taxidermized kind) often have a little squeaking device implanted in them, that you activate by squeezing or shaking them. Would that be how a stuffed pig would squeal?
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And of course all these are our guesses as to what the real users of the phrase might have had in mind. It’s nice when we have somebody (like smyth in the other post) who can tell us what they had in mind. (Or at least some of it—limits of introspection and all that.)

Last edited by DavidTuggy (2010-02-03 20:25:24)

*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .

Re: Squeal Like a Stuffed Pig

Even the “stuck pig” metaphor admits different imageries. Kem pictures a “punctured pig”, which is reasonable enough: I always have pictured a pig stuck in a crack in the fence or in the gate of a pigpen or yard. (I can assure you, they squeal in both predicaments.)

Last edited by DavidTuggy (2010-02-03 23:28:01)

*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .

Re: Squeal Like a Stuffed Pig

I was just going for some silly alliteration with the word “punctured.” The phrase “sticking an animal” means, if I’m not mistaken, cutting its throat as a prelude to butchering. At least that’s the way we used to use the phrase.

Re: Squeal Like a Stuffed Pig

Vexact wrote

How about “It’s” for “its” ??? Is it an eggcorn or nut?

Neither, I’d say. It’s simply a variant spelling of “its”: it’s generally considered non-standard today, but was standard in 18th century writers like Thomas Jefferson. And as the MWDEU notes, it remains in wide use; they cite its presence in publications like Gourmet, New York Times Magazine, and Vogue.

Re: Squeal Like a Stuffed Pig

vexact wrote:

grubble? got to be an eggcorn. When cleaning up a construction site, there is both rubble and food (grub) waste. Hence “grubble.”

Well…I’m not sure it’s got to be. It could easily be (and I think was when I collected it) a one-time blend of gravel and rubble. (With grubby and grovel/shovel perhaps contributing a bit as well.) A fun one it is, though.
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Other usages:

Hey, can anyone tell me where my Anglo grandchildren can grubble for college funds and a decent education???

You grubble back “Be lazy.” (your not a morning person)

DONT grubble it around , either push it straight on or STOP and start again,

i don’t think i have written ugly or rotten things about other people…i COULD have, but those i grubble about in my mind

Then a guy comes in with a huge scar over one eye and a ponytail with grubble on his face.

*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .

Re: Squeal Like a Stuffed Pig

“Grubble” has been around in English for a long time. It was more common in the seventeenth century than now, according to the OED. It means “to scrape together.” It has also been used as a synonym of “grub” (as in “to grub for”)—perhaps viewed as a word formed with the English frequentative/diminutive ”-le/el.”

Re: Squeal Like a Stuffed Pig

Yes. The first and third examples above may fit those notions pretty well. But it is surprising what a range of meanings, beyond the two historically sanctioned verbal ones you mention. The examples above seem to include at least overtones of rubble/gravel, grumble, (grubby) stubble, and grovel.

*If the human mind were simple enough for us to understand,
we would be too simple-minded to understand it* .